Trump Will Pay $25 Million To Avoid A Trump University Fraud Trial

On the Morning Joe video from early March above, Trump said he wouldn't settle the Trump University lawsuit “because it's an easy case to win in court… How do you lose a case where people suing you have signed letters and affidavits saying that the school is terrific?… We have a 98% approval rating? How do you settle a case like that?… I could have settled the case a number of times. I could settle the case now if I wanted to settle the case. I don't settle cases… You know what happens? When you settle cases, everbody sues you. At least with me, I don't settle cases very often.”But Trumpy-the-Clown nemesis Judge Curiel has always wanted a settlement and Friday reports of an imminent settlement broke in the NY Daily News. In the future, Trump will be able to pretend he was never found guilty of anything, the same way he can technically claim he's not a serial bankrupt. He's settling both remaining Trump University cases, the one in New York and the one in San Diego. And, worse yet, as one wag on Twitter put it yesterday, “Trump to pay out to people who expected him not to con them so he can focus on conning the nation.”Even before election day, Trump had tentatively agreed to settle but, always the cheapskate, tried bullying his victims again by saying he'd only;y agree to go forward if the amount was $3 or $4 million and never anything above $10 million.

Under the emerging deal being negotiated by Trump's lawyers, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the law firm that brought a class action lawsuit regarding Trump University in California, the president-elect will agree to pay between $20 million and $25 million to settle the matter, a source with knowledge of the situation said.Trump will not admit to any wrongdoing in the final agreement, which could be announced as soon as Friday, the source said.During the presidential campaign, Trump had threatened to have his executives reopen the school once the cases were done. It's not clear if that was bluster or if the settlement will bar that from happening even if he was serious.The settlement comes just days before a class action lawsuit in California was set to begin. With the trial date approaching– and Trump getting ready to take office– the judge in the case pushed for aggressive settlement talks among all the parties, the source said.Before being elected President earlier this month Trump had publicly vowed not to settle the matter.…Schneiderman in 2013 brought a fraud lawsuit against Trump University claiming that the school was nothing but a scam designed to make money for Trump by falsely promising wannabe real estate developers they would learn the tricks of the trade from Trump and his hand-picked teachers.Instead, those who enrolled were pressured to take more expensive programs from people not selected by Trump. The closest they got to Trump himself was when they were able to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of him, Schneiderman alleged.

Schneiderman initially sought $40 million from Trump, saying he swindled more than 5,000 students through the school. The final $20 million to $25 million settlement will cover students from both the New York and California cases, though there had been some overlap, the source said.In the end, about 800 people from the New York case who enrolled in Trump University and who have been waiting for compensation since 2012 will now receive it, the source said.Schneiderman has slammed Trump University, which closed in 2010, as a “fraud from beginning to end” and has suggested that “the initial estimates are that (Trump) personally pocketed $5 million from” his school.“Using false promises to prey on desperate people has long been a hallmark of 'snake-oil salesmen,’” Schneiderman said this past July. “A lawsuit by my office alleges that Donald Trump was basically doing the same thing with Trump University.”Trump has denied the allegations of fraud, saying 98% of the people who signed up for the programs expressed satisfaction, and blistered Schneiderman as a “lightweight.”

Schneiderman is likely to run for governor of New York in 2018. The unpopular Andrew Cuomo is seeking a third term. The Trumpist candidate is like to be deranged Buffalo psychopath Carl Paladino.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” — Sinclair Lewis